Running Time (RT2)
by Yui Miyamoto
Summary: This sequel (called 'Running Time') to "'RT is for the 'Real Thing' or just 'Red Thread'?" explores Shampoo's feelings about the whole situation.
1. Ch. 1

Disclaimer - All characters and anything to do with Ranma Nibbunoichi belongs to the fabulous Rumiko Takahashi and all companies distributing this awesome gender-changing series.  
  
'RT' is for the 'Real Thing' or just 'Red Thread'?  
  
Chapter 2 - Namida: They get you nowhere.  
  
Before entering the house, I breathed in and wiped away all the tears that had slipped down my face with the back of my sleeves. I straightened the white sleeves for a bit to find that they were damp.  
  
Very damp.  
  
I smiled a little. It wasn't the first time I had cried for Shampoo and only about Shampoo. And I knew it wouldn't be the last time I did it either.  
  
"Tadaimasu." I closed the door behind me to find Shampoo going up the stairs since she had just finished her bath.  
  
"Good night, Shampoo," I called out.  
  
She didn't even look my way. So, I just went to my room and closed the door quietly.  
  
As I took off my clothes and changed into my pajamas, I thought, "It's okay."  
  
But, I hugged my clothes and brightly laughed to myself. "I'm happy I'm even here. Living under the same roof, seeing you everyday...knowing that you're just there is okay.  
  
I pointed my head in the direction of her room. "It's okay with me."  
  
I then looked at myself in the bathroom mirror as I brushed my teeth. Gosh, I think I cried more than I thought. My eyes weren't shot, but they were a bit swollen. I shrugged. "Oh well."  
  
"But when was the first time I cried for Shampoo?" I whispered quietly to myself as I walked up the stairs.  
  
I stepped into my room and turned off the lights. "Of course I should know. I mean, it has to deal with Shampoo."  
  
I remember everything about my life that has to do with Shampoo. Even her own life...  
  
Looking up the ceiling, my eyes adjusted to the darkness around me. After a hard day of work and spending a day a few feet away from my love, I would finally rest and think as I looked up to the ceiling.  
  
When was the first time I met Shampoo? I remember now. It was when I was three...  
  
[Flashback]  
  
"Can you please get water from the stream below, Mousse?" my mother asked as she stood in the kitchen for breakfast. "I thought we had enough, but seems that there isn't."  
  
"Okay," I answered with a smile as I stood in front of her.  
  
"Oh Mousse." She came over to straighten out my clothes. "You have to look nice. You are my son."  
  
"Yes, Mommy."  
  
She pushed me along. I went to the back of the house to get the two pails and the pole we had always used for getting water. It wasn't so hard. This was part of the training.  
  
As I walked down the grassy hill, I heard the stream around me. I knew I was almost there, so I speeded up a bit. But before I got there, I stopped.  
  
There was a little girl with purple hair. It was that girl named Shampoo. Almost everyone knew her family and her. They were very good fighters and she was of no exception.  
  
But this was the first time I had seen a girl before.  
  
So I looked at her curiously as I quietly peeped behind a tree. "She's pwetty."  
  
She suddenly looked into my direction and I hid behind the tree. When I looked again, she was getting more water from the stream.  
  
My cheeks were getting warmer and warmer. The sun would shine over everything soon, so I rushed down to the river even though that girl was there.  
  
She glanced at me, but then she looked away.  
  
I put my two pails into the water and kept on stealing glances at her. She was so fascinating to me because I rarely had time to play with other children in the village. I was the only child of my household, after all. And a hard worker, at that.  
  
"H-hi," I stuttered.  
  
She smiled at me and nodded her head as she took up her buckets and other things to carry back to her home.  
  
"Bye," she softly said and rushed up the hill away from me.  
  
When she left, I finally fell down on the ground as some of the water splashed on my clothes and on my face. "Whoa..."  
  
Then, I got up quickly and hurried back home.  
  
[end of flashback]  
  
That was the first time I had met Shampoo. She was the first girl I had ever met in my whole life...  
  
It definitely was an unusual experience for me.  
  
"I know the first time..." But then, I turned to lay on my side. "I cried for you, Shampoo...and it wasn't even your fault."  
  
I whispered, "It was about a few months from the first time I met you."  
  
[another flashback]  
  
On a sunny day, a few days before I was turning four-years-old, Shampoo and I went to this field not to far off from our houses. There were a few trees there and we happened to be next to one.  
  
Shampoo wore that cute smile she always had. "Are you sure you want to practice, Mousse?"  
  
"Yeah, since we have to practice anyway, why not do it together?" I answered back. I would finally have a playmate!  
  
"Okay, but I no so sure." She then stood up straight and folded her hands in front of her. "I heard we no play together because you boy and I girl. I no know why."  
  
"Really? I haven't heard of that rule." I sat down and rummaged through the few things I could secretly hide in my clothes. I pulled out my glasses and a scroll that I had written on. "Let's see."  
  
Shampoo sat next to me and took the scroll. "You write bad, Mousse."  
  
I fell to the side. "Please just look for the rule."  
  
"Okay." She nodded and read through the writings. "The next set of rules you are going to write are under title 'Marriage'? You too?"  
  
"Yeah, me too. I learn that tomorrow. But do you know what that is, Shampoo?" I looked over at her curiously. "Well, do you?"  
  
"No. No know yet. I learn tomorrow too." She got up. "Great- grandmother will teach me."  
  
I got up. "Oh, so your great-greatgrandma teaches you your lessons, huh?"  
  
"Yes. Your mommy teaches you your lessons?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
She laughed. "Let's practice now?"  
  
"Wanna have a pretend match?"  
  
Shampoo tilted her head and smiled even more cutely. "Why not? Is fun! I always do that with mommy and great-grandmother."  
  
"Okay, here I come!"  
  
We were both across each other with different fighting stances. And then, the match began...  
  
...And by accident, by a single mistake of running instead of ducking or jumping up, she kicked me...I was on the ground.  
  
"Mousse!" She came over to me and dusted my face of the dirt. "Are you all right?"  
  
I got up and smiled. "I'm fine."  
  
"I think we stop for today."  
  
"Yeah," I replied dizzily as I got up.  
  
"You sure you all right?" She looked at me with much concern.  
  
"Yeah, I'm all right." I dusted myself.  
  
"I'll see you later, Mousse!" She ran off.  
  
I went off in the other direction. "Bye, Shampoo!"  
  
Little did I know the price I would pay for that single mistake...  
  
When I came back home, my mother looked at me and smiled. "Welcome back, Mousse."  
  
"Hi, Mommy."  
  
"How was it playing with Shampoo?"  
  
"We had a pretend match and-"  
  
My mother started to frown. She turned to me and sat down across me.  
  
"What do you mean, 'pretend match'?"  
  
"She and I had a pretend fighting match to practice fighting."  
  
Her eyes looked at me in surprise. "And what happened?"  
  
"I lost. But then we we're going to play again tomorrow."  
  
She held my shoulders. "Mousse, do you like this girl, Shampoo?"  
  
"Yeah! Lots Mommy."  
  
She frowned.  
  
"What happened, Mommy?" I asked innocently.  
  
"You might be young to understand." But then, she patted my head. "But, you'll find out sooner or later. And it might as well come from me."  
  
I looked at her confused. Hey, I was only three.  
  
"You cannot marry Shampoo when you grow up, Mousse."  
  
"What does 'marry' mean, Mommy?"  
  
"It's living with someone you love for the rest of your life. The girl will become a mommy and the boy will become a daddy."  
  
I nodded. I was a pretty sharp kid. "Ohh...Like you and daddy."  
  
"Yes, Honey." She nodded. Then, she did the strangest thing. She knelt down and hugged me.  
  
"Do you mean I'll never live with Shampoo? Ever?"  
  
She shook her head. "No, Mousse. Not really..."  
  
I stood there like a statue but there was a ringing inside my ears. "But I can still like her right, Mommy?"  
  
"I don't know, Honey. That's something you'll have to decide yourself. Someday."  
  
I pulled away from her and ran down to the stream below.  
  
"I-I don't understand...aren't we friends?" Tears were streaming down my face as I hugged my knees. "I can still like her right? "  
  
[end of flashback]  
  
As I stayed awake in bed, though it happened many years ago, it could still make me cry...like right now.  
  
I tried so hard through the years and even proposed. I even challenged her countless times, but I always failed.  
  
And the more and more I failed, the more and more I wanted to try harder. It was then I realized that I actually loved this woman who gave me cold stares ever since she had beaten me...  
  
I didn't know what love was at three, but I grew to know what I felt as time wore on. And all the more, I would cry, but my tears would amount to nothing.  
  
I'd learn to keep them deep inside.  
  
--  
  
Author's note: This one shot (well, it was planned to be) fanfic will be not too long, but I want to build to the moment. It is because Mousse's feelings are key to the character of Shampoo. And yet, Shampoo complements Mousse also by the way he comes out.  
  
What all my blabbering means that I want to develop what would have been a very basic and short plot. ^_^  
  
But it seems that I do better on chapter stories than one-shoters. Well, of course, IMO.  
  
Ja for now. ^_~ Comments? Send to Reiakane_enju@yahoo.com 


	2. Ch. 2

Disclaimer: For all the memories shared because of Ranma ½ by Rumiko Takahashi-sama, this is a form of deep appreciation. Oh, and Ling's my character. ^_^  
  
Running Time (RT2) by Yui Miyamoto  
  
Chapter 2 - The Law.  
  
As Shampoo boarded onto a ship heading for China that night, she could think nothing but, * Why I do this? Why I running to China to find you, Stupid Mousse?! *  
  
"Think about this carefully, Shampoo," her great-grandmother said as soon as she left the restaurant.  
  
"Great-grandmother knew..." Shampoo whispered to herself as she looked down at the ocean below her.  
  
Shampoo was very confused. She didn't know if she was doing it for him, for her, or her own pride. What was clear to her was that she wouldn't accept defeat, especially by the hands of Ling.  
  
Ling was a girl she had never liked. How Mousse ever became friends with her, she would never want to know. Ling was a kind girl, but it was just one of those things in life: They just didn't get along, and they sure knew it; and they surely made it known to the world around them.  
  
The many fights they had against each other always had two things: Shampoo winning to make Ling more upset and Mousse's welfare.  
  
* Mousse will be miserable with her. *  
  
[flashback]  
  
Two beautiful girls stared icily at each other near the stream where everyone went to get water from.  
  
The brown-haired one of sixteen shouts, "You're so spoiled, Shampoo."  
  
Ling commented as she positioned herself to fight. "Can you just let poor Mousse go? He's always crying because of you!"  
  
"Is not my fault!" shouted the purple-haired girl of fourteen. "He the one following me! And I ask him favor only few times, but he always like to go beside me!"  
  
"You're bad to him Shampoo! Just leave him alone!"  
  
"I try but he the one who no go away!!!"  
  
They fought...and Shampoo won once more.  
  
Ling got up from the ground with a cut lip. "I swear, Shampoo. One day you'll be the one feeling every single pain Mousse has gone through for you! Even if I have to do it myself!"  
  
Shampoo smirked and crossed her arms confidently. "You punish me? I best fighter in village while I still alive. Remember that, Ling."  
  
[end of flashback]  
  
Fear ran through her.  
  
It was a feeling she had never felt before...  
  
When Shampoo landed in the port nearest to her village. She couldn't help but smile through her nervous state. "I finally back."  
  
Then, she trudged to her village.  
  
[flashback]  
  
After a kiss on the cheek, Mousse whispered to her ear, "Goodbye, Shampoo."  
  
He walked out without even looking back.  
  
"Oh, you be back later, I know you, Mousse." Shampoo whispered without moving from her place. "I know you will be back."  
  
* As always… *  
  
[end of flashback]  
  
Shampoo began to cry though she clenched her fists. * I thought you would come back. Like always, Mousse. *  
  
* I thought since I beat you, you no worthy. Is law. Is Law of the Amazons.* Shampoo walked faster and faster. * You lost every time after that too. *  
  
"Is Law!!!" she screamed.  
  
And it echoed in the mountains around her.  
  
* That right. It Law. * But Shampoo didn't know what to think anymore. The law that was part of her like the blood that flowed or a piece of the flesh of her body, it was starting to crumble in front of her eyes. She couldn't distinguish which was right this time: The law or herself.  
  
"The law is never wrong, my dear," her mother had said to her. "If it was, what would you be today, Shampoo? You'd be living the wrong life."  
  
When Shampoo at last saw her village a few feet away from where she was standing, she sighed in apprehensiveness and relief. "Then, this time, I rely on nothing."  
  
* And I will find answer to who is right. Law of my tribe... or Shampoo herself? *  
  
She walked on. * Let the games begin. *  
  
"But Shampoo never lose," she whispered to herself.  
  
  
  
--  
  
Author's note: So, how is it going so far? I think her character is getting deeper. I just think that making her confused is still perplexing to my mind; but then again, it does fit because she always followed her laws and now, it may be that she is going against something that affected her whole life… 


	3. Ch. 3

Disclaimer – ^_^ All rights to Takahashi Rumiko-sama. But, Ling's mine  
  
Running Time (RT2)  
  
By Yui Miyamoto  
  
Chapter 3 - What goes around, comes around...  
  
As she walked closer and closer to the entrance of the village, Shampoo saw a familiar figure coming out of it.  
  
The shadowed figure stopped walking and stood there for a moment. "I can't believe I'm getting delusional now. It's probably withdrawal from not seeing you for so long-"  
  
Shampoo closed her eyes in annoyance and hit him on the head. "I no hallucination. Is really Shampoo here."  
  
"Sh-Shampoo?" That same question of hope in his voice appeared as she always expected.  
  
"And, Stupid Mousse. It only been about one week."  
  
"You were keeping count?" He was about to cry from happiness.  
  
"No. I just notice more chores for me to do take longer."  
  
"Oh..." Mousse sighed sadly. Then, he remembered he had made up his mind not to love her. * If I do this again, I'll never let her go. I'm getting married the day after tomorrow, for goodness sake. *  
  
He turned around. "Well, see you. Thanks for coming to see the wedding. It means a lot to me."  
  
Mousse wanted to hit his head in frustration. * I'm so stupid! Well, it's been a habit to want to please her in every way I could... *  
  
He then walked away quickly. * Even if I want to make her feel bad or want to show her how wrong she is, I just can't. I can't ever force Shampoo to do anything. And never on my account...*  
  
Shampoo watched him go off. * It mean nothing to me, Mousse. I come to wish you good luck with new wife...even if I no like- *  
  
"Shampoo!" someone called out and ran to her.  
  
After conversing with many people, she finally made it to the front of her door.  
  
Knock. Knock.  
  
"Who's there?" the voice a woman called as she came to the front.  
  
"Is me! I'm home!"  
  
"Shampoo!"  
  
They both hugged each other and talked for most of the night.  
  
When it was about half past midnight, her mom poured them more tea. "Oh, so grandmother is here because she had to take care of the restaurant. But that's okay. You'll be her representative."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I still can't believe Mousse is getting married! And to Ling also!" Her mom laughed to herself and took another sip of tea. "Thank goodness! Now you don't have to worry about him anymore."  
  
"I know! He such annoying boy!" Shampoo put her cup down. "I have time to breathe now."  
  
"That boy smothered you too much. To think he wanted to marry you because he loved you." Her mother became more irritated. "He didn't accept the laws, but that's what it says. We need good, strong heirs! Love comes after you get married, not before it. Your father and I understood that and look how well it went?"  
  
It was true. Shampoo's parents were good together, though like any other couple they had problems, but they always got through everything. But that was just in their case. Shampoo also knew of the many families that weren't like their own.  
  
* It just depend on people. * Shampoo thought for a moment. * Like Ranma... *  
  
Even if it was two o'clock in the morning, Shampoo had made up her mind. She slipped out of her house and headed towards whatever fate had in stored for her.  
  
She came towards the house of Ling...to find Ling leaning there on the fence of her home. Ling was waiting for her all that time.  
  
"So, you've come, Miss Shampoo." Ling said as she unraveled her arms from them being crossed and got off the wall to stand in front of Shampoo.  
  
In the light, Ling wore a look of calmness that Shampoo always hated. Ling always knew what to do and what to say. Ling was everything a man could only dream of and the daughter women would pay to have. "Perfect" as she was, of course she had her own faults.  
  
Ling then stared at Shampoo.  
  
And there were two things Shampoo always had over her: Shampoo always knew what she wanted and how to get it...  
  
...and had Mousse's unconditional, adoring affection behind it.  
  
How would she live without that? That's what she had wondered when she boarded the boat to China and when she saw Mousse in front of the village.  
  
"I know what you're here for, Shampoo." Ling shook her head. "But I'm not giving him to you. You've lost Shampoo, accept it."  
  
"If I lose, Ling, it not to you." Shampoo stepped back a bit.  
  
"You're pride has gotten in the way again, Shampoo." Ling looked at her somewhat in pity. "Think about it. Are you doing this for him or for yourself?"  
  
Shampoo's eyes grew into beads. How insulted she was to hear such rude words. If she came here for herself, then Ling was the idiot. * Why you... *  
  
"Mousse does not belong to anybody, but he gave his heart to me!"  
  
"But he defeated me and he will become my husband by tomorrow's sunset." Ling clenched her fists. "That is the law-"  
  
"Then I defeat you to get him back."  
  
"You're too late, Shampoo! Accept it!" Ling screamed back in annoyance. "Mousse loves me now. He was the one who challenged me! It's the law!"  
  
"I know Mousse longer than you, Ling." Shampoo shook her head. "I know him very, very well. Mousse..."  
  
Shampoo's tears began emerge, but she wouldn't cry. Especially not in front of Ling. * I know everything about him. You don't know how to take care of him. *  
  
And with all the shouting people were gathering to watch what was the commotion. But they all knew what was going on, so they watched in eagerness.  
  
"Mousse has decided of his own free will to marry me, Shampoo." Ling smiled now, but it was with only a slight mockery. "If you do this for yourself, you are a selfish, senseless woman. But if you do this for him, I will take up your challenge."  
  
"Please let me through…" At last, the cause of all this trouble was running and pushing to get to the front of the crowd.  
  
"Ling. You always idiot." Shampoo lifted her head up and stared icily at Ling. "Of course I do this for Mousse. Let me say to whole world so they explain to you later..."  
  
"I love Mousse," she finished. "Sorry if not in law."  
  
Mousse, who was finally in front of the crowd, stood back a bit and couldn't believe what he was hearing. But he knew he had every single, sweet word because everyone was hushed at that moment.  
  
"I accept your challenge, Shampoo," Ling said as she positioned herself. "But believe me, you will pay dearly for all you've done."  
  
The fight for Mousse began.  
  
But Mousse? He didn't know what to think, but... * She challenged Ling to get me back... *  
  
So many things were running into his brain that he didn't know what to even start thinking upon. Though he wanted to run over and embrace her with gratefulness as he usually did, he could no longer. It would dishonor Ling.  
  
* I...I think you're too late, Shampoo...Why only now? *  
  
--  
  
Author's note: Hee hee. I like this…  
  
Feedback? E-mail me, pwease.. 


	4. Ch. 4

Disclaimer - ^^;; You know what's supposed to be here. Just imagine it this time.  
  
Thanks!  
  
'RT' is for the 'Real Thing' or just 'Red Thread'  
  
by Yui Miyamoto  
  
Chapter 4 - I realize.  
  
As I put down all the things we had picked up, I looked at Shampoo again as she  
  
and her grandmother conversed. I looked at them in relief and smiled throughout the rest of the day as we fixed the restaurant.  
  
When we were done, I was given permission to go home early.  
  
As I stepped out of the house, I quietly shut the door behind me. When I looked up, I saw someone that I least wanted to see right then...  
  
"Shampoo...what are you doing here?" I asked uncertainly as I tried to straighten up my bag behind me.  
  
"I tired." She looked curiously at me. "What you do with bag?"  
  
Oh, why does this have to be harder than it has to be? Why does this always have to happen to me?  
  
I smiled, but I looked straight into her eye. "I'm going back to China, Shampoo."  
  
What do you say to that, huh? The usual 'Goodbye, I'm glad to get rid of you'? Do you hate me or do you love me, Shampoo? Now is the time to show me...  
  
"Oh..." She laughed and slapped my back. "Oh, Mousse, you kidding, right?"  
  
I shook my head. "No, not this time."  
  
With all my memories, all my hopes, all my dreams, I took up what little pride I had left. I then bent over to kiss her gently on the cheek.  
  
I can't believe I'm doing this…  
  
I whispered to her ear, "Goodbye, Shampoo."  
  
Do something, Shampoo…  
  
I'm walking out without looking back. If I do, I'll be in the same position as before…  
  
"Oh, you be back later. I know you, Mousse." She whispered without moving from her place. Shampoo wouldn't turn around to look at me. "I know you will be back."  
  
Then please, keep me here. Let me be beside you, for always. Stop me Shampoo. Tell me everything I've said and done all my life…  
  
…tell me that because I had made you the reason for my life that it was worth all your coldness and pain that I've endured…  
  
Stop me Shampoo! Just give me some indication that you care a damn about me!!!  
  
But on I walked silently…  
  
And you didn't even run after me…  
  
As I leaned on the edge of the boat heading for China, I waved to nobody.  
  
Bye Japan.  
  
Goodbye to everything I thought would be mine.  
  
I sighed and looked down at the water. "I can't believe it took me this long to figure this out."  
  
There were so many things rushing to my head, and yet everything was so clear to me now...  
  
I finally realized she wouldn't ever think of me. She wouldn't cry for me. She would never reach the kind of care and affection I felt towards her. Not with all the sincerity I put into everything...  
  
I would have wanted to kiss her, but she had only thought of me as some annoyance who somewhat was a childhood friend to her.  
  
Of course she had her soft spots, but never one for me.  
  
From my pocket, I pulled out two fabrics. I dropped the red thread into the sea. "It was really a great dream."  
  
And I stared at the one I had carried in my pocket since I was seven...  
  
...the green ribbon she had worn in her hair.  
  
It was something I had carried throughout my life. When I ran around the village...when I came to Japan to defeat Ranma...when I went to Jusenkyo...when I came to live with you, Shampoo...  
  
I looked up to the starry sky.  
  
At that, I started to cry like a fountain whose flow of water would never stop.  
  
"You'll come back right?" she had said to me.  
  
"No, I will stay with Shampoo in Japan."  
  
Ling clutched onto her shirt and tried her hardest not to cry. She was an prideful Amazon after all. "Mousse! I'm telling to you to stay!"  
  
I got off the tree I was leaning on and stood in front of her. "I know you are my friend but I have to do this!"  
  
"Why, Mousse? What will it accomplish?!"  
  
Ling had been my friend since I was ten. She had helped me up one time when it was raining and I was stuck in the mud. Even if she was a prideful Amazon, she was one girl that was very, very kind to me.  
  
"It will accomplish that I will be her husband when I defeat that Ranma Saotome!"  
  
"Mousse… She shook in anger. And I had never seen her so mad...or for real.  
  
"I can't say goodbye forever!!!"  
  
In the next second, she would shout at me something I had never expected her to say…  
  
"Will you just stay here and defeat me?!"  
  
I looked at her in shock. The second best fighter in the village and one of the most beautiful...she was asking me something that I understood...if I heard right. "She was really a good friend and wanted to protect me," I thought at that second.  
  
She nodded as if in slight desperation and frustration. "Defeat me, Mousse."  
  
I shook my head and turned around. "I will go where Shampoo goes."  
  
"I respect your wishes." Ling then sighed and walked in front of me so that we could look at each other face to face. She cupped my face in between her hands and smiled at me. "No matter what happens, I will always be here for you, Mousse. Okay?"  
  
"Thanks, Ling." I held her shoulder. "I'm glad we became friends."  
  
"Me too, dear Mousse," she said.  
  
But at that time, I did not understand if she was doing it as a friend for honor or if she really did love me as a man. I mean, she was a childhood friend and two years older than I was...  
  
When I landed on a pier closest to our village (even though it was still quite far off), I was more than disheartened. I would have liked to have died on that boat by jumping off to sea. But as fate would have it, since my curse turned me into a duck, I could not. I would have to live with all my shame...  
  
I walked for the rest of the day and finally made it to my village. It got harder and harder to think if what I did was right in the long run. "I've wasted my life and I love STILL that girl that doesn't love me."  
  
"Hope." I clung onto the green ribbon that I had cried upon countless times. "Green is the color of hope...that's why I could never let go."  
  
"Mousse?" The woman in front of the village dropped her laundry and ran to me.  
  
"It's really you, Mousse!" And she jumped into my arms, without inhibitions and without thinking twice.  
  
"Hi, Ling!" I smiled and hugged her back.  
  
"I knew it!" she happily shouted. "I had a dream you'd come back to China soon."  
  
I nodded with mixed feelings of pain and joy.  
  
"So, what happened to Sham-"  
  
"I did not come back to talk about her." I pushed Ling away from me.  
  
"Mousse? W-what?"  
  
I positioned myself. "I came back to defeat you."  
  
She looked at me for a second with an expression I couldn't even begin to describe.  
  
Then, she positioned herself with her hands out in front of her. "I'm ready!"  
  
As I fought, that green ribbon I had carried for so long disappeared forever from my sight.  
  
And with its disappearance, I buried my feelings for the first girl I had ever fallen in love with.  
  
Until now,  
  
Very painful as it is,  
  
I finally realize...  
  
With many tears behind and further caused by you…  
  
There is really life for me after you, Shampoo...  
  
But I still can't see you not being in it.  
  
  
  
I don't think I ever will…  
  
--  
  
Author's note: Yes, I know it's very dramatic. But that's just how Mousse is. He's extreme, but he's very sincere. The more and more I write about him, the more fascinated I become.  
  
Well how was that, huh? I would have put Shampoo's reaction to all this, but that would ruin the moment because this fanfic is and for Mousse. ^_~ I'll do her reaction later…  
  
Besides, I'm still sad and bitter about her. Heh. ^^;;;  
  
Talk to me! You know the e-mail!  
  
Arigatou for reading and see you next time. 


	5. (final) Ch. 5

Disclaimer – You know what should be here. ^_^ I'm quite tired to write it, forgive my exhaustion.  
  
Running Time (RT2)  
  
By Yui Miyamoto  
  
Chapter 5 - Soba ni ite ne.  
  
After handing everything to her mother, she came back to the place she had cried to. Then, she stayed there for the rest of the day. She sat there sitting and thinking of her past, her present, her future. But she couldn't so much as speak her mind at the moment. It was just too much to put into words right now.  
  
Then, a quick crunching of the grass under someone's foot was coming towards her faster and faster. "Shampoo!"  
  
Shampoo jumped up and was on the defensive when her eyes caught sight of Mousse walking towards her...with his bag over his shoulder.  
  
When he was about ten feet away, he threw away the bag to the side and held his hands out. Then, he adjusted his glasses with his index finger. His aqua blue eyes held a look of determination. "Get ready Shampoo!"  
  
"I no understand!" She stood there for a moment confused. "You no-"  
  
"Don't talk..." He ran to punch her on the side. "Fight!"  
  
She jumped up, handstanded on his head and was now holding her hands out to fight. "What you doing, Mousse!"  
  
"I'm going to win this time, Shampoo!"  
  
* I want you to, but you can't anymore... * She threw him a roundhouse kick. "Umph! How you know I'm here?!"  
  
* I've got to correct what happened last time... * Mousse threw all his hidden weapons out at her. "Of course I know! This was favorite place to go to, and the one where I would always watch you from behind that tree!"  
  
Jumping in the next second after the attack, Shampoo shouted, "The tree I beat you from before..."  
  
After another twenty minutes or so, because of the extensive training both of them had gone through, their bodies jumped up and down as sweat rolled down their faces.  
  
"Why you challenge me when you already have Ling?!"  
  
"Stop asking about her! I've already lost my rematch to her!"  
  
Then it happened, Shampoo came running...  
  
Mousse then shouted something that made Shampoo forget what she was doing: "I can't say goodbye forever to you, Shampoo! Don't you see that?!"  
  
"What?" Being surprised by his answer, for one second, Shampoo caught her breath.  
  
...and Mousse kicked her before she jumped or blocked it...  
  
Falling to the ground, Shampoo was brought to her knees. And Mousse stood there for a moment and then he ran to embrace Shampoo. He'd never live it down if he could ever bring Shampoo to her knees for more than a split-second.  
  
"This was what was supposed to happen so many years ago..." Mousse couldn't do anything but cry as he hugged her tighter.  
  
And for the first time since they were children, Shampoo looked up at him and smiled while wiping off the dirt on their faces. She didn't say anything.  
  
They both got up. Shampoo got his bag and gave it to him.  
  
"Why you make me go through all this for you, Mousse?" She frowned at him. "You always come back and this time you no come back."  
  
* Same old Shampoo... * Mousse laughed and sighed. "Hey, I almost had a heart attack finding out you came back for me. And then you said you loved me..."  
  
Mousse looked up to the stars. "I don't know. Did you really do this for me or for yourself, Shampoo?"  
  
Shampoo shook her head annoyed and hit his head. "Stupid Mousse."  
  
"You were jealous! Admit it!" Mousse laughed his head off to take in that glorious moment. "Ha! I knew you loved me deep inside!"  
  
Shampoo crossed her arms. "Maybe Shampoo did make mistake."  
  
"Oh, Shampoo..." Mousse sniffed with tears in his eyes. "You don't mean that, do you?"  
  
She then took his hand firmly into hers. "Come on, let's go home, Mousse."  
  
Then, she looked in back of her and smiled softly. They both stopped at a certain spot. Shampoo looked at that tree where she had beaten Mousse when they were three and touched it for a moment. Then, they walked on further.  
  
"What are you thinking about, Shampoo?" Mousse asked.  
  
Shampoo smiled and shook her head. She then looked up at the stars. * I come here for you all along... I no can live without you. I so used to you behind me all this time... *  
  
Again, she looked behind her to see that Mousse was really there.  
  
* I only now make sure you always here next to me... *  
  
* And until now, I still see you smile for me...despite everything. *  
  
"But Shampoo, I must ask," Mousse politely inquired, "what DID make you come back for me?"  
  
"Stupid Mousse." With her other clenched hand, she opened it before him. "Why you have to make Shampoo cry with this when you say goodbye?"  
  
"The green ribbon..." he whispered to himself.  
  
  
  
Owari.  
  
--  
  
Author's note: Yes, yes, I know I did complain about Shampoo. But see? I had to make this different from my other Mousse fic. Why? Because that's how I am, that's why. ^_^ I don't like repetitive things.  
  
And besides, at least here, Shampoo understands the true pain Mousse went through for her  
  
So, I'm justified in my ending. Well, I'm still trying to convince myself of it...  
  
I like this fic because I got to do a third-person omniscent perspective, which is something I rarely do. As for the story, I first wanted him with Ling, but then I realized that this is Mousse's fic. He wouldn't want that even if it was for the best thing. He's just that type of character. ^_^ And so, even if it's a 'happy ending', they both realize that they will go through many things that will bring pleasure and sadness, but at least together now...  
  
I don't know how else to say it. ^_^  
  
Thanks for reading!  
  
Yui ^_^ 


End file.
